


Reset

by LouderthanSilence



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, BAMF Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto), Boys In Love, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Everyone Is Gay, Haruno Sakura is So Done, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Minor Haruno Sakura/Yamanaka Ino, Naruto is Just Naruto, Protective Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura is TIRED, Slow Burn, Strong Haruno Sakura, Time Travel Fix-It, sasuke is a disaster, so is Naruto, they’re 12 again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2020-10-18 17:24:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20642909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouderthanSilence/pseuds/LouderthanSilence
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke had accepted their deaths as they laid there on the ground, bloody and broken, each missing an arm, but instead of death, they both wake up as their 12-year-old selves again along with Sakura for some reason.They’ve been given a second chance it seems and now they have to learn how to navigate not only the issues of their past but also a flurry of new problems including but not limited to, Sakura’s sudden uncontrollable bouts of super strength, Naruto‘s loss of connection with the Kyuubi, and Sasuke’s now chronic chakra exhaustion from his sick new mangekyou Sharingans that he got from watching the death of a brother who isn't quite dead yet.





	1. A Big Fucking Problem

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So, I’m not really sure where I’m going with this and I know how many “back in time” stories there are but like.... I love this trope and they say to write for yourself so fuck it lmao. 
> 
> Let me know what you think so far!  
If anyone has any ideas too please let me know!!!

Everything happened so fast that Naruto honestly wasn’t sure what  _ even happened.  _

One minute he was forming a rasengan,  _ and a big one at that,  _ and the next he was lying on the ground in a pool of blood,  _ whether it was his or Sasuke’s he wasn’t sure, probably both,  _ with a missing right arm and swollen left eye. 

What Naruto  _ does  _ remember however was that Kurama had been uncharacteristically quiet during their fight and had only spoken at the end to inform Naruto That he was too drained to repair his arm. Naruto  _ does  _ remember being so angry he wanted to scream at the demon fox and ask him what good was he for then? But he was so exhausted that all he managed was a weak ‘whatever’. 

He remembers his conversation with Sasuke and how he’d told Sasuke that if he attempted all this again, Naruto would stop him  _ believe it!  _

And the last thin Naruto remembers is asking both Sakura and Sasuke,  _ because Sakura had appeared at some point,  _ if they ever wished that they had another chance at life, at  _ this, Whatever this was.  _

He doesn’t remember their answers because his heart stopped shortly after. 

He thought dying would be quiet and peaceful, that his soul would slip away from his body gracefully, but that’s not what he got. 

Instead, Naruto Uzumaki’s peace and quiet was rudely disrupted by the sound of an alarm clock blaring,  _ his frog alarm clock to be exact.  _

He slammed his hand down on it and it shattered into a million pieces, raining minuscule chunks of metal down onto his head. 

With that he jolted awake and sat straight up….  _ In bed?  _

Panicked, Naruto looked around the room he was in and his panic tripled when he realized  _ he was in his old apartment bedroom  _ and as he scrambled out of bed and shook the metal flakes from his hair, he realized  _ he still had his right arm _ and with that, he screamed. 

******

Sasuke Uchiha couldn’t of asked for a better death. 

He was lying on the ground, battered and bruised, left arm destroyed, cut off right above the elbow. 

A slow turn of his head to the left not only comforted him, but also terrified him because lying to his left was  _ Naruto Uzumaki _ .  _ His one and only friend.  _

Sasuke couldn’t believe his eyes. Here was his once best friend turned rival  _ turned best friend again??  _ lying on the ground beside him, looking just as beat up as he himself was. 

Sasuke didn’t realize he was laughing until the pain in his chest,  _ probably from a broken rib… or two… or three, fuck that hurt,  _ flared up, sending him into a coughing fit which really just irritated his already broken bones even more. 

When he was finally able to open his eyes once more, he realized that Naruto was in fact coherent,  _ barely but he was, _ and he was staring directly at him.

Sasuke found himself turning away, embarrassed for some reason. 

“Why? Why do you go so far for me?” Sasuke couldn’t help the words that tumbled out of his mouth. 

“Because” Naruto started, pausing to cough and Sasuke winced because _that didn’t sound good, “_because, You’re my _friend_” Naruto wheezed out the last word and Sasuke found himself turning his head back over to look at him. Naruto was turned towards him smiling softly and Sasuke felt that familiar pang in his chest whenever he thought of Naruto. 

Sakura arrived at some point and panicked, she set about quickly attempting to do something to staunch the bleeding from their arms. 

“Do you ever wish you could get a second chance at all of this?” Naruto asked no one in particular and Sasuke’s chest hurt because  _ he had. So many times.  _

“I just wish there was like a button to hit” Naruto continued his ramble. 

“Like a reset button?” Sasuke asked quietly. Naruto responded with rapid choked coughing and Sasuke felt his blood run cold.

“Naruto? Naruto stay with me!” Was the last thing Sasuke heard Sakura screaming before he too succumbed to the darkness. 

  
  


******

  
  


Sasuke sat up in a panic, heart beating wildly out of his chest. He jerked his head around to take in his surroundings and then he was terribly confused. 

He wasn’t in a hospital… but his childhood bedroom? 

He jumped out of his bed and ran to the bathroom and flipped on the light. 

He activated his sharingan, brushed his hair out of his eyes and watched in horror as both his sharingan spun like pinwheels.  _ Mangekyos…..  _

The last thing Sasuke remembers is feeling lightheaded before he hit the floor. 

*****.

Sasuke wakes up to the sound of someone pounding on his door. 

He groans loudly and forces himself to sit up but he’s moving as if he’s stuck in jello and his entire body hurts, not unlike when he overdid using his chidori and used too much chakra. 

_ You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Not only did I get sent back to being like 12 but also I have shitty chakra reserves again?? _

Sasuke drags himself to the front door. His head is pounding and his eyes feel like someone threw sand in them. 

Sasuke can sense Naruto’s chakra on the other side of the door and for a minute he debates opening it at all but then Naruto yells, “Sasuke Uchiha I know you’re in there! I can sense your chakra. Open the door or I’ll take it down!” So, with a heavy sigh, Sasuke swings the door open, revealing a startled,  _ barefoot _ Naruto in a bright orange pair of frog pajamas. Sasuke has to blink a few times to make sure he’s actually seeing this right. 

Naruto is panting and his face is red, but there’s a huge grin spread across his face. 

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at him. 

“Can I help you?” He asks, wincing at how rough his voice comes out. That seems to snap Naruto out of the trance he’s fallen into and launches him into a rambling mess. Words are coming out of his mouth so fast that Sasuke can’t keep up with him  _ at all. _

He does however, catch a few words, like  _ ‘missing arm’ and ‘fourth Shinobi war’  _

All the ramblin is making his head hurt so he rubs at his forehead and closes his eyes. 

“Slow down. I can’t understand you if you talk that fast, dobe” the age old pet name rolls off his tongue without a second thought and the onslaught of words stall. 

Sasuke opens his eyes and freezes at the sight of Naruto, now wide eyed in wonder. 

Sasuke heaves another sigh,  _ wow his chest kinda hurts,  _ and pushes the door open further, motioning for Naruro to come inside. He does so wordlessly, still seemingly caught in a daze. Sasuke shuts the door behind Naruto and turns on his heel, half hobbling into the kitchen where he makes himself a glass of water. 

He turns around and just about drops the glass because  _ Naruto is so close to him.  _

“Tell me you’re real Sasuke. That this isn’t a dream” Naruto whispered, bottom lip quivering, “you came back too right? You remember the fight in the valley? When we lost our arms? That was real right?” There’s a small twinge of panic mixed in with the relief in Naruto’s voice. Sasuke blinks. Briefly, he debates just  _ lying _ . Telling Naruto that  _ he’s crazy  _ but he doesn’t because it’s kind of a relief to be back to being a kid. 

_ Even if he’s stuck in a tiny useless body with almost nonexistent chakra reserves in a village he wants to destroy.  _

Sasuke blinks as he realizes that Naruto is still staring at him, a pleading look in his eyes and he realizes that he still hasn’t answered him. 

Just as Sasuke opens his mouth there’s an urgent banging on his door. 

Sasuke sighed and went to push himself off of the counter but Naruto had already disappeared out of the kitchen. “I’ll get it~” he called over his shoulder. 

Sasuke swirled the water in his glass around and watched it spin like a tiny tornado. 

“Uh Sasuke?” Naruto called from the doorway and Sasuke looked up just in time to see Naruto step out of the way, revealing a very pale looking Sakura clutching a heavily bleeding hand to her chest. 

“We’ve got a problem.” She said. 

Sasuke downed the rest of the water and for a brief moment, he  _ really wished it was sake _ . He slammed the glass down onto the counter and ended up clutching his head from the sound. 

“Yeah, a fucking big one apparently” Sasuke mumbled underneath his breath. He tried to take a step forward and the world spun around him. 

‘ _ Oh you’ve got to be fucking with me’  _ is the last thought in his mind before he crumbles, world going black once more. 

  
  



	2. The Age Old Argument

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can’t give up on him! I can’t. I’ve tried and tried but I just… can’t. He’s in so much pain and I can't just stand by and watch. It hurts. It hurts me to see him hurt Sakura.” Naruto whispers the last part so quietly Sakura is almost sure she imagined it. He’s tugging at his hair now. 
> 
> “So, if there’s any chance, even just a shred of one to help Sasuke shoulder all that pain then I’m going to take it because Sasuke didn’t deserve all the bad things that life gave him.” He continued, staring squarely at the floor. Sakura doesn't know what to say, a frequent occurrence apparently, so she just continues to stare at Naruto, searching for something to say. she'd never really talked to Naruto about all of this honestly. yeah, they'd argued about how Naruto was always obsessed with chasing after Sasuke and how he'd ignore everything else, like his own health and well being, but they'd never talked about why, why it was so important to Naruto.
> 
> As she continues to watch Naruto stare dejectedly at the floor, she suddenly wishes she had asked all those years ago, maybe everything would've gone differently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, I wasn't really planning to take the story this way and I know its probably kinda extra and boring but it kinda got away from me as I was writing. 
> 
> they'll get on with the story in the next chapter but I just kinda wanted to show Naruto and Sakura's different views concerning Sasuke. 
> 
> Anyways, next chapter they'll meet with Kakashi and figure out just where they are in the past and then the real fun will begin. 
> 
> Also quick thing, If you'd like to read a Kakashi-centric fic centering around his relationship with Gai and featuring Kakashi adopting baby Naruto then come check out my other fic 'When the Dust Settles' !! 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy and let me know what you think! and i'm always down to discuss ideas!!

There aren’t many things in Naruto’s life that scare him, in fact, many of his team leaders and instructors throughout his life had often told him he was fearless to the point of sheer stupidity, but as he watched Sasuke suddenly crumble like a wet paper doll he was  _ terrified.  _

Naruto surges forward because  _ what’s Sakura gonna do with a busted hand? _ And hits his knees hard on the tile floor, barely managing to catch Sasuke in his arms. 

“Oh god he isn’t dead is he?” Sakura asked voice laced with panic. Naruto’s head snapped up, eyes meeting hers and he gaped. 

“I don’t know! You’re the medical-nin! What do I do?!” He all but screeches.  _ He’s never felt panic like this before.  _

Sakura isn’t faring much better, to be honest, but at least she sounds slightly calmer when she responds

“I don’t know! Check his pulse!”

“How do I do that?!” Naruto cries staring down at the limp boy in his arms. 

Yeah, they fought all the time and even  _ destroyed each other’s arms at one point,  _ but that didn’t mean he wanted Sasuke to  _ die.  _

“Here move, let me,” Sakura said, medical training  _ finally kicking in  _ and Naruto had never moved out of the way so fast in his life. Sakura squatted down and reached out with her good,  _ but blood-covered _ hand. 

She made a few vain attempts to wipe the blood off on her dress but when she realized it wasn’t going to really come off, she sighed and went ahead, pressing two fingers to the side of Sasuke’s neck. 

She closed her eyes for a minute. Then, she furrowed her brow.  _ Naruto held his breath.  _

“His pulse is really weak,” Sakura says finally, leaning away from him she brought her good arm back up to hold her bad one. 

“What does that mean?” Naruto asked nervously. 

_ A weak pulse doesn’t sound good.  _

_ Nothing about Sasuke should be weak.  _

Sakura’s head snaps up at Naruto’s question and she’s just about to ask him just what  _ the fuck kinda question that is _ when she catches sight of the tears forming in Naruto's eyes. So, instead of yelling she simply sighs, leans back against one of the legs of the kitchen table and rubs at the bridge of her nose, uncaring if she’s smearing blood all over her face. 

“It means he’s alive but barely,” She says quietly, not opening her eyes. Her head is pounding in tempo with the throbbing in her hand. 

“Oh. Okay, that’s good, right? Not the weak part but that he’s still alive?” Naruto asks, uncertain and Sakura decides then and there that she  _ doesn’t like when Naruto sounds like that.  _

Naruto Uzumaki has never been anything  _ but  _ overconfident and loud and she  _ doesn’t like this.  _

_ There are so many things  _ ** _wrong with this. everything about all of this is all wrong. _ **

Sasuke shouldn’t be unconscious on the floor, Naruto shouldn’t sound like he’s scared out of his mind right now and she shouldn’t be stuck bleeding profusely from a busted hand because she accidentally put her hand  **through** the door this morning. 

‘ _ Not to mention all three of us shouldn’t be 12 years old again’  _ her brain  _ unhelpfully  _ supplies. 

Sakura tries to think of a solution,  _ anything _ but her head hurts and her mind is blank and she just wants to  _ go to sleep _ . 

Naruto is still talking, but she’s not quite sure what he’s saying, he’s talking  _ too fast _ and she opens her mouth to tell him to just  _ slow down _ but no words come out.

Then, She’s being shaken, Naruto is shaking her and when she finally manages to crack open her eyes, she meets terrified blue ones. 

“Sakura! What’s wrong? Don’t die on me too!” Naruto pleaded and there was something in his voice,  _ something  _ about the way his voice raised in pitch towards the end and broke that had her sitting up fully and opening her eyes. 

“I’m not dying on you. Just dizzy from blood loss” Sakura says as Naruto helps her stand up and maneuvers her into a chair. 

“I'm fine. Just need to patch up my hand” she mumbles, not sure if she's saying it to reassure Naruto, _or herself. _

“Okay. Okay what do you need?” He asks

“First-aid kit” is all she’s able to mumble but  Naruto  _ seems to  _ understand her because he flickers out of the kitchen. 

Desperate not to pass out, Sakura starts counting. 

She’s reached 125 by the time Naruto returns, first aid kit tucked under his arm.

He swings it onto the table and unlatches it before looking up to meet Sakura’s eyes. 

“Tell me what I need to do Sakura,” he said. 

“First, you gotta remove the splinters” she mumbles, forcing herself to scoot forward. She props her head up on her good hand and focuses on guiding Naruto through his first-ever surgery. 

“Now grab the needle and thread” 

_ God, she really wishes she had some sake right now.  _

*******

Surprisingly, Naruto doesn’t do too bad of a job in stitching her hand up and Sakura would be lying if she said she wasn’t at least a little  _ impressed.  _

but, by the time he finishes, she’s fighting to keep her eyes open so she’s  _ pretty sure she’s dreaming  _ when the second Naruto enters the room. 

The two Naruto’s converse for a minute before one of them disappears,  _ which makes Sakura feel better because maybe she isn’t dead after all,  _ but then Naruto's hand is in her face and he’s pushing something into her mouth.  ** _Pills?_ **

“They’re food pills. Now chew” Naruto commands and so she does, crunching through the two pills in her mouth. 

*****

There’s a reason Sakura never takes food pills and that reason is that they  _ suck.  _

First, they’re really chalky and dry, Second, they taste  _ horrendous _ . She’s often wondered how they managed to make something taste so bitter and gross while simultaneously tasting like pure sugar. 

Thirdly, they make her mouth go numb but the worst of all is when they fully  _ kick in _ sending a rush of  _ pure adrenaline  _ through her body that suddenly has her up and on high alert. 

Once the initial high wears off, Sakura helps Naruto lift Sasuke up and carry him to his bedroom. 

_ Or well, they guess it’s his since every other room in the house was locked uptight.  _

Upon entering the sparsely furnished room, Naruto feels his heart drop to his feet.  _ It was so empty and lifeless.  _

He lays Sasuke down and turns around to face Sakura. 

“You know, I think this is the first time I’ve ever been inside Sasuke’s room or his house for that matter,” she said, turning around slowly to examine every inch of his room as if somehow it held all of his secrets. 

“Same here,” Naruto replied. There was a dull throbbing in his right arm and he rubbed at it absently as he wandered over to the desk in the corner. 

“To be honest, I don’t think that Sasuke ever wanted us to come here” Sakura answered quietly. Naruto nodded in response as he carefully sifted through the paperwork on Sasuke’s desk. Something caught his eye.  _ A mission report  _

“Hey Sakura, do you know what day it is today?” Naruto asked, turning around and holding up the report. Sakura blinked over at him as if the very question never even crossed her mind. 

“No, I never thought to check. Why?” She asked, coming closer. Naruto handed her the report and she stared down at it, analyzing it. 

“This is just a practice report from when we were in the academy.” She said, glancing up at naruto and quirking a brow as if to ask,  _ why is this relevant?  _

Naruto shrugged and plopped down on the floor, still rubbing his arm. 

“That’s the thing. When I woke up this morning I didn’t have my forehead protector on” Naruto laughed nervously and scratched behind one of his ears, “I used to sleep in it yah know. Guess I was worried someone would take it from me” he looked away. Sakura blinked as the point Naruto was trying to make was slowly sinking in. 

“You mean, I mean you think we haven’t graduated yet?” She asked skeptically.  _ Did this Jutsu or whatever it was, send them back  _ ** _that far? _ **

“I mean at least I don’t think  _ I have  _ yet. You two might’ve already graduated.” Naruto said. Sakura hums in response. 

“Do you think we’re stuck here? In the past I mean?” Naruto continues on to ask Sakura quietly. 

She shrugs, “honestly I’m not sure. I don’t know what’s going on” 

Naruto nods, “yeah me neither. It’s really weird being back here, being a kid again though” 

Then, Naruto throws himself onto the floor, sprawling out and staring up at the roof, “I just wish I knew why we’re back here.” He groaned. Sakura couldn’t help but giggle slightly at his antics. _he was still so childish._

“I agree. Maybe it has something to do with your guy’s fight?” Sakura asked.  _ At this point, she’s really just thinking out loud.  _

_ “ _ You think so?” Naruto asks from his position on the floor and Sakura shrugs again. 

“I think it’s like a second chance,” Naruto says and Sakura raises an eyebrow. 

“What do you mean?” She askes and Naruto sits up to look at her in the eyes. 

“Like a second chance to do things differently! Like what if this time around we could stop Sasuke from leaving this time?” He asks excitedly. Sakura continues to stare at him skeptically. 

“Do you really think we can stop him this time around?” Sakura asked. Naruto blinked a few times before shrugging. 

“Honestly? No. Not  _ really. I mean,  _ I kinda accepted a long time ago that I wasn’t ever  _ really  _ going to be able to bring Sasuke back, but if there’s even a chance then I’ll keep trying! believe it!” Naruto exclaimed with a confident grin. 

“Do you really think that you stand a chance at reasoning with him? He’s considered a  _ traitor to the village Naruto”  _ Sakura doesn’t really mean for her words to come out as harsh as they do, but she’s just so  _ tired.  _

_ Tired  _ of picking up the pieces, hers  _ and  _ Naruto’s. 

“I can't just give up on him Sakura,” Naruto says quietly and that sets Sakura off. 

“He’s done nothing but try to kill you Naruto! He keeps hurting you and you just  _ let him! Is he even worth it?! Do you see what you are doing to yourself?!”  _ She's up on her feet now yelling and she  _ swears she saw Naruto’s eyes flash red  _ before he’s up on his feet as well, hands balled into fists at his side. 

“Of course he worth it! He’s only ever done what he thought he needed to! And if hurting me is what he needs to do then I’ll let him do it every single time!” He yells the last part, face red, and chest heaving. Sakura takes a small, cautious step back and it does not go unnoticed because Naruto immediately deflates, slumping over and dropping his head. 

“I can’t give up on him! I can’t. I’ve tried and tried but I just…  _ can’t.  _ He’s in so much pain and I can't just stand by and watch.  _ It hurts. It hurts me to see him hurt Sakura.”  _ Naruto whispers the last part so quietly Sakura is almost sure she imagined it. He’s tugging at his hair now. 

“So, if there’s any chance,  _ even just a shred of one to help Sasuke shoulder all that pain then  _ I’m going to take it because Sasuke didn’t deserve all the bad things that life gave him.” He continued, staring squarely at the floor. Sakura doesn't know what to say, _a frequent occurrence apparently, _so she just continues to stare at Naruto, searching for something to say. _she'd never really talked to Naruto about all of this honestly. yeah, they'd argued about how Naruto was always obsessed with chasing after Sasuke and how he'd ignore everything else, like his own health and well being, but they'd never talked about **why**_, _why it was so important to Naruto._

As she continues to watch Naruto stare dejectedly at the floor, she suddenly wishes _she had asked all those years ago, maybe everything would've gone differently._

  
  


A nasty sounding cough startles both ninjas and they both turn to see Sasuke, coughing and struggling to sit up in bed. 

Naruto immediately launches himself across the room and  _ despite Sasuke’s weak attempts to bat him off,  _ helps him sit up. 

“Are you okay? Do you need anything?” Naruto asks, words coming out in a flurry. 

“Water” Sasuke mutters and then Naruto is off, flickering out of the room, leaving Sakura alone with Sasuke. 

He’s glaring at his lap hard enough to burn holes through the blankets and Sakura’s twisting her hair around her finger because she just… doesn’t know what to say. 

She wants to ask  _ if he heard any of her and Naruto’s argument,  _ but she’s too afraid of the answer so she doesn’t. 

Instead, she just stands there awkwardly until Sasuke lifts his head to meet her eyes and  _ with one look at his eyes, she knows he heard everything.  _

He opens his mouth to speak but they’re interrupted as Naruto returns, glass of water and food pills in hand. 

After Sasuke’s drank the water and taken the pills he looks far less pale than he did before. Which is a relief for both Sakura  _ and  _ Naruto. 

Then, he clears his throat, “did you guys figure anything out while I was… asleep?” He asks, voice devoid of emotion. Sakura swallows hard and Naruto coughs nervously. 

“Well, Uh, we, I mean  _ I  _ have a theory,” Naruto says finally, casting a nervous glance over at Sakura.  _ She doesn’t meet his eyes.  _

_ “ _ Well then, let's hear it, ” Sasuke says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is PharmercyTechnician!! come by and say Hi! :)


	3. Sometimes, Trying is all we can do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke cuts him off with a scoff, “Thanks but no thanks. despite how I look, I’m not a baby Naruto. I can handle it just fine.” He all but snarls and Naruto takes a small step back, letting go of the door. 
> 
> “Now if you’re done acting like I’m some weak little kid, you can leave me alone so I can go to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sasuke grinds out between clenched teeth and Naruto nods wordlessly, swallowing down his shock. 
> 
> And with that, Sasuke slams the door shut in Naruto’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh! another chapter! woo! :) 
> 
> there will be another chapter posted probably in a few hours too! 
> 
> Yay! two chapters!
> 
> Okay so... this kinda got away from me again but at this point, I'm really just rambling my way through this story cuz it's just really self-indulgent. 
> 
> Anyways, Let me know what you think! Tell me if I'm too extra lol. 
> 
> Oh!! and if anyone wants to beta read for me, let me know!!

Sakura keeps her eyes on Sasuke the entire time Naruto is explaining his ‘theory’. 

Looking at him now, _ back at 12 _, she can’t help but reminisce about a time long since passed. 

It’s been so long, Sakura honestly couldn’t remember what Sasuke looked like back then and even now as he sat in his bed mere feet away from her, she couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t Sasuke she was looking at. 

They looked the same but gone was the boy she trained with when she was a genin, replaced by this stranger who seemed almost like a zombie, just an empty husk, abandoned by its soul. 

As Naruto went on to say “it’s like a second chance! Believe it!” She watched as Sasuke’s fingers curled into fists and his eyes seemed to darken, sharingan not quite active, but still there swirling underneath the surface _ ready to strike at any moment. _

Although Sakura’s glad to finally see some emotions show on his face, she wishes it wasn’t anger that twisted his features so terribly. _ Honestly, she can’t remember a time in which something other than anger or aloofness showed on Sasuke’s face. _

_ Other than when he was with Naruto. _

Sakura quickly dispelled that thought from her head, mainly because it twisted something inside of her, something _ deep dark and angry _. 

She knew that feeling jealous over Sasuke picking Naruto over her when they were kids was meaningless and selfish but she's pushed it down and down and ignored it for so long that there ended up days where she found herself consumed by it. 

_ The feeling of being inferior. _

Sakura was brought out of her thoughts by Naruto calling her name. 

“Huh?” She asked. Naruto rolled his eyes and behind him, Sasuke scoffed. 

“Me and Sasuke were saying that we think it’s best that we go home and act like everything’s normal. 

And then we can head to the academy tomorrow morning to see if we can figure out just where we are in time” Naruto explained.

“Oh, right that uh that makes sense” Sakura replied, distracted. For some reason, she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from Sasuke and he shifted uncomfortably under her unyielding gaze. 

“I’ll walk you to the door,” Sasuke says robotically and Sakura doesn’t miss the stiffness in his movements as he swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands. 

She can tell he doesn’t want them here, which only makes her feel more awkward as she and Naruto follow Sasuke down the hall and to the door. 

Sasuke opens the door and stands there silently, eyes never leaving hers and Sakura wishes it weren’t like this. _ Yeah, maybe she doesn’t trust him, but he doesn’t seem to trust her either. _

“Right uh. Okay well, I’ll see you tomorrow then?” It’s a question directed at Sasuke and Sakura feels guilty, guilty that she can’t trust someone she once called her teammate. Sasuke doesn’t answer, only continues to hold the door open, but he does avert his eyes and it makes her stomach twist. 

“Yeah, we can all meet at my apartment!” Naruto says excitedly. If he notices the tension, he doesn’t say anything which leads Sakura to believe that Naruto was completely oblivious to her and Sasuke’s mental showdown. 

_ She isn’t sure if that’s good or bad at this point. _

“Okay, well uh, bye?” She says, words coming out more like a question 

Naruto’s rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet and almost bouncing as he follows her out the door.

Something sour settles in her stomach as she realizes she hasn’t seen Naruto this energetic in a long time. 

“Bye” Sasuke deadpans before closing the door behind them, directly in their faces, but Naruto doesn't seem the slightest bit perturbed, as he continues to bounce on his feet and chatter away to Sakura about something. She’s not really listening, too caught up in her worry that Sasuke will leave again. 

Suddenly, Naruto stops walking and facepalms, “I forgot my bag! Imma run back and go get it, you can go on without me” he speaks so fast that he doesn’t give Sakura a chance to protest before he’s off, running back down the sidewalk towards Sasuke’s house. 

He turns halfway and waves at Sakura over his shoulder and yells something that Sakura is pretty sure, “See you tomorrow morning!” She’s got half a mind to stay and wait for him, but she’s tired and her hand hurts so she doesn’t, just trudges off in the direction of her house. 

As she gets home and collapses in her bed, _ her parents are still gone at work so she’s safe from their prying eyes and questions, _Sakura says a quick prayer that Sasuke will stick around this time around, at least for a little while. 

She’s not sure if she and Naruto will survive another betrayal.

  


********

Naruto practically runs the entire way back to the Sasuke’s house, heart pounding out of his chest. 

He’s nervous, and _ rightfully so _, considering he was about to be face to face with Sasuke once more today.

_ That is if _ _ he hasn’t already left. _

Naruto shakes his head the moment the thought crosses his mind because he doesn’t want to think about what will happen if Naruto knocks and Sasuke doesn’t answer. 

Naruto knocks hurriedly on Sasuke’s door, nerves twisting his stomach and he’s almost nervous enough to _ puke _ . As the seconds go by and Sasuke doesn’t answer the door, Naruto’s stomach twists and turns and he's _ certain he’s gonna puke at any second if the door doesn’t open right now and _

The door is swung open and Sasuke looks no less pissed off than he 15 minutes ago but Naruto is so relieved he could cry. 

He wants to throw his arms around Sasuke and never let go, but he knows that will probably get him another Chidori to the chest so he doesn’t, only nervously rocks back and forth and twists his fingers together in front of himself as Sasuke eyes him critically. 

“Is there a reason you’re at my door?” Sasuke asks and Naruto tries his best not to flinch at the harsh tone of Sasuke’s voice. 

“Heh, I think I forgot my bag in your house” Naruto laughs nervously. Sasuke lets out a heavy sigh before quietly stepping out of the way so that Naruto can enter the house. 

Naruto bolts for the kitchen and snatches up his bag before making his way back to Sasuke and the front door. 

He's still nervous and too worried to leave _ just yet because what if Sasuke leaves again? What will he do then? _

“Well? You’ve gotten your bag.” Sasuke says and Naruto’s chest hurts because _ where was the relieved Sasuke from the valley? The one who cried and smiled at Naruto? _

Naruto swallows hard and opens his mouth, and for a minute, he just gapes like a fish while Sasuke raised an eyebrow and watches. 

He wants to tell Sasuke everything’s going to be okay, that he’s here for him, _ that he loves him, _ but he can’t form the words. There’s just too much riding on this one conversation but at the same time, he feels like if he doesn’t say it all now, _ he will never get another chance. _

Naruto’s too nervous, too wound up, so he tries to calm his beating heart by looking anywhere but at Sasuke. 

Naruto’s not stupid, he knows Sasuke hates this village, knows that he himself is not enough to keep him here, knows that this is the very house his family was murdered in, _ knows that it’s the village that’s responsible. _

He knows it’s selfish to want Sasuke to stay after all the village has done to him but he can’t _ help it. _There’s a hollowness in his chest that’s been there ever since their first fight in the valley and he’s desperate to fill it once more. 

“Naruto? Are you okay?” Sasuke asks quietly and Naruto’s head whips around and their eyes meet and it’s like Naruto’s been _ lit on fire. _

‘_ I love you, please don’t leave again’ _the words are on the tip of his tongue and he’s frantic, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing but the words are caught in his throat and he can’t force any sound out. 

_ His heart feels like it’s going to explode at any second and _ Sasuke must see it on Naruto’s face because his eyes soften _ just the teeniest bit and _ Naruto knows it’s now or never but his _ brain just still isn’t complying and he can't _ but he needs to say something _ anything. _

“You can come stay with me” Naruto blurts and he wants to facepalm but then Sasuke is _ laughing _and Naruto is too shocked to move. 

“What’s so funny?!” Naruto exclaims once the initial shock is over with and Sasuke just shakes his head in response. 

“Nothing, You’re just as much of an idiot as I remember,” Sasuke says, wiping tears from his eyes. 

Naruto _ wants to ask _ just what the fuck _ that _means but he’s still partially in shock. Sasuke shook his head once more before opening the door. 

“It’s nothing Naruto. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sasuke says, waiting patiently for Naruto to exit his house. Naruto does so quietly and almost robotically and despite Sasuke’s change in attitude, he can’t help but feel like he just screwed something up bad. 

The feeling is strong enough that it has Naruto screaming ‘wait!’ While spinning around and stopping the door from closing. Sasuke blinks back in surprise before raising an eyebrow and Naruto doesn’t have to be a genius to know that Sasuke’s questioning his sanity. _ Shit, even Naruto is questioning his sanity at this point. _

_ “ _ I was being serious!” He says loudly before quietly continuing, “you could come stay at my place. I know this place is…” _ Sasuke’s eyes have hardened again and all the traces of laughter are wiped off his face but that doesn’t deter Naruto this time, he just trudges in, “ _... a sore spot for you so I mean if you wanted to you could-” 

Sasuke cuts him off with a scoff, “Thanks but no thanks. despite how I look, I’m not a baby Naruto. I can handle it just fine.” He all but snarls and Naruto takes a small step back, letting go of the door. 

“Now if you’re done acting like I’m some weak little kid, you can leave me alone so I can go to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sasuke grinds out between clenched teeth and Naruto nods wordlessly, swallowing down his shock. 

And with that, Sasuke slams the door shut in Naruto’s face.

Naruto stands at the door for a long while, staring at the chipping paint. 

Finally, he turns around and starts to walk away but at the last second he turns around and runs back to the door, banging his fist against it. 

“I’ll leave the door unlocked just in case you change your mind!!” He yells, loud enough to startle some birds that were nesting up above him. 

He doesn’t receive an answer but Naruto knows Sasuke heard him,  _ he can just _ feel it. 

Satisfied that he at least did his best, Naruto turns on his heel and starts down the path and when he stops at the end of the street and casts one final glance at the house, he’s almost sure he sees the upstairs window’s curtain flutter. 

_ He might not be able to stop Sasuke from leaving, but he can at least try.  _


	4. Its all fun and games until it gets dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Water” Sasuke croaks because his throat is, in fact, dry, but he also wants Naruto out of the room so that he can confront Sakura, tell her that he’s different this time. That he doesn’t want to hurt Naruto anymore, but when he sits up and looks into her eyes he’s reminded that she doesn’t trust him in the slightest and it kind of hurts but he knows he can’t be angry with her for it. 
> 
> It was justified after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh! second chapter of the day is up! 
> 
> okay so I'm like really hating this chapter bc it feels choppy af but anyways, hope you like it! 
> 
> I pinkie promise that next chapter we will be getting into the good shit, but for now, please stick with me for the mess that comes before! 
> 
> Let me know what you think!!

“-- stop Sasuke from leaving?”

It’s Naruto’s voice that wakes Sasuke up and he’s just about to sit up and make his presence known when Sakura starts speaking. 

“Do you really think we can stop him this time around?” she asks 

“Honestly? No. Not _ really. I mean, _ I kinda accepted a long time ago that I wasn’t ever _ really _going to be able to bring Sasuke back, but if there’s even a chance then I’ll keep trying! believe it!” Naruto exclaims and Sasuke feels the breath freeze in his lungs. 

_ Are Naruto and Sakura arguing… over him? _

“Do you really think that you stand a chance at reasoning with him? He’s considered a _ traitor to the village Naruto” _ Sakura exclaims and Sasuke has to grit his teeth at that in order to stay silent. He wants to be angry with her, to sit up and defend himself, but he wants to hear Naruto’s reply and _ Sakura isn’t exactly wrong so _ he stays quiet.

“I can't just give up on him Sakura,” Naruto says quietly and that makes Sasuke’s chest hurt. 

“He’s done nothing but try to kill you Naruto! He keeps hurting you and you just _ let him! Is he even worth it?! Do you see what you are doing to yourself?!” _Sakura is basically screaming at this point and Sasuke is grinding his teeth to keep himself quiet. 

_ She’s not wrong. He isn’t worth it. It would be best if Naruto just left Sasuke alone. _

“Of course he worth it! He’s only ever done what he thought he needed to! And if hurting me is what he needs to do then I’ll let him do it every single time!” Naruto yells and it makes Sasuke’s chest ache even more than he thought was possible because _ of course Naruto is defending him. _

“I can’t give up on him! I can’t. I’ve tried and tried but I just… _ can’t. _ He’s in so much pain and I can't just stand by and watch. _ It hurts. It hurts me to see him hurt Sakura.” _Naruto whispers the last part and Sasuke has to strain his ears to hear it. There's a pain in Naruto’s voice and it causes the pain in Sasuke to flare up.

“So, if there’s any chance, _ even just a shred of one to help Sasuke shoulder all that pain then _I’m going to take it because Sasuke didn’t deserve all the bad things that life gave him.” Sasuke is sure that if he didn’t have his eyes clamped so hard that he was seeing stars, that he would have tears in them. 

Naruto just cared for him so much and what had he done to return that unconditional love? He’d only tried to kill Naruto several times for it. He wants to sit up and tell Naruto that he’s _ wrong, that he does deserve all the pain that he’s been dealt. That he’s a terrible person and not worth Naruto’s time or love. _

For a second it's quiet and Sasuke takes his chance to alert the other two that he’s awake and ends up almost hacking up an entire lung instead. Naruto, _ of course, _ rushes to his side to check on him and Sasuke bats his hands off because he _ doesn’t deserve it, _but Naruto is Naruto and he’s going to care for Sasuke whether he likes it or not so eventually, Sasuke gives up. 

“Water” Sasuke croaks because his throat is, in fact, dry, but he also wants Naruto out of the room so that he can confront Sakura, tell her that _ he’s different this time. That he doesn’t want to hurt Naruto anymore, _ but when he sits up and looks into her eyes he’s reminded that she doesn’t trust him in the _ slightest _ and it kind of hurts but he knows he can’t be angry with her for it. 

It was justified after all. 

He opens his mouth to tell her just that, but then Naruto is back and Sasuke quickly turns his attention to the bouncy blond who’s holding out water and food pills. 

*****

“You can come stay with me” Naruto blurts out and the concern dripping off his voice does weird things to Sasuke’s insides and he doesn’t know _ how to respond, _so he just laughs. 

“What’s so funny?!” Naruto asks and Sasuke just shakes his head because he honestly _ doesn’t have an answer. He doesn’t know why it's so funny, just that it is. _

“Nothing, You’re just as much of an idiot as I remember,” Sasuke says automatically, words falling easily off his tongue. He had to admit, it felt nice to be able to joke with Naruto once more, _ just like they were kids again… well, they technically were. _

“Its nothing, see you tomorrow Naruto,” he says finally and Naruto steps through the door without another word but then he's suddenly spinning around and slamming his hand into the front door and Sasuke is flinching backward and scolding himself for reacting in such a weak way. 

  


Sasuke doesn’t fully hear what Naruto’s saying on account of the blood thundering in his ears but he gets the gist of it and Sasuke’s smile slides right off his face and he grits his teeth. 

Angry, Sasuke can’t help but scoff and cut Naruto off “Thanks but no thanks. despite how I look, I’m not a baby Naruto. I can handle it just fine.” He all but snarls and Naruto takes a small step back, letting go of the door. There's some kind of look on his face that he can’t decipher. 

“Now if you’re done acting like I’m some weak little kid, you can leave me alone so I can go to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sasuke grinds out between clenched teeth and Naruto nods wordlessly. 

Unable to bear looking at the concern in Naruto’s eyes, Sasuke slams the door shut in his face, no longer caring if he hurts Naruto’s feelings. 

_ ‘So much for not hurting him anymore. Some good you are at keeping promises’ _a voice in the back of his head whispers and Sasuke shoves it down. 

Just as Sasuke is entering his room, he hears Naruto banging on the door. Sasuke heaves a giant sigh and heads over to the window to tell Naruto to just ‘_ go the fuck away’ _but as he’s unlatching the window he hears Naruto scream, “I'll leave the door unlocked just in case you change your mind!” Sasuke scoffs again and peaks out his window, around the curtain to see Naruto heading back down the sidewalk.

Naruto turns to look back at the house and Sasuke quickly moves away from the window and dives into bed. 

“As if I would wanna spend the night at Naruto’s” Sasuke mutters to himself, pulling the blankets up around himself. 

  


_ It isn’t until its completely dark outside and the emptiness of the house is threatening to swallow him whole that Sasuke decides that maybe Naruto’s wouldn’t be so bad. _

********

It’s nearly dark out when Naruto finally drags himself up the stairs to his apartment. 

He does as promised and leaves the front door unlocked as he shuffles to the bathroom to shower. 

The hot water does little for the steadily growing pain in his right arm but it does help to relax him somewhat and Naruto feels even more sleepy when he climbs out. 

After changing into his pajamas and pulling one of the blankets and pillows off his bed and throwing it onto the couch, _ just in case, _ he stumbles down the hall to the kitchen where he starts to heat some water in his kettle and gets out a cup of instant ramen from the cabinet. 

Naruto is half asleep by the time the kettle whistles and he stumbles over to it and pours the water in his cup and barely remembers to turn the stove off. He slides back into the chair at the kitchen table and rests his head on his arms to wait out the dreaded 3 minutes for the noodles to cook.

********

The sound of his front door squeaking open is what rouses Naruto from his sleep and he groans and sits up, rubbing at his bleary eyes and squinting. 

Sasuke stands frozen in the doorway, eyes locked onto Naruto’s. There's an unreadable expression on his face, not unlike the one a kid would have when they're caught with their hand in the cookie jar. 

The two young ninjas stare at each other for a nondescript amount of time, both too afraid to make a move before Naruto sleepily clears his throat and asks Sasuke if he’d like some ramen. 

It's another long moment and Naruto’s halfway to being asleep again when Sasuke finally speaks, “Sure.” He says. So, Naruto motions for him to come to sit at the table and the sound of the chair being pulled back confirms that Naruto is in fact, not just _ seeing things and that Sasuke really did accept his offer. _

Naruto tries not to feel too giddy as he dumps his cup of ramen into the trash, _ it was cold and the noodles were soggy now _and set the kettle back on the stove. 

The two boys eat their respective cups of ramen in silence, Naruto being too sleepy to form coherent thoughts and Sasuke just overall not knowing what to say, _ He’s embarrassed he got caught sneaking into Naruto’s apartment. The plan had been to sneak in, sleepover and then leave before Naruto woke up. _

They finish eating in silence and Naruto tosses both cups into the trash, mumbles a sleepy ‘goodnight’ to Sasuke and then shuffles off to his room. 

Naruto’s asleep before his head hits the pillow, dead to the world. 

**********

When Naruto wakes up the next morning to the sound of someone banging on his front door he feels as if he’d been hit with one of Sakura’s all-powerful punches. 

Half alive, he stumbles down the hall and almost shrieks when he enters his living room and comes face to face with a very grumpy looking Sasuke, sitting up on the couch and rubbing his eyes. 

Naruto shuffles over to the front door and swings it open, revealing Sakura, who’s looking every bit as grumpy as the two boys. 

“Morning Sakura-chan” Naruto says, yawning. Sakura’s eyes flicker from Naruto to Sasuke who is still sitting on the couch back to Naruto. 

“Uh, morning? You two should probably get dressed so we can head to the academy,” she says. Naruto blinks back at her for a moment before nodding. 

“Right.” He says, turning on his heel he stares at Sasuke for a moment before hurrying off to his room. 

Once Naruto’s changed, he exits his room to see Sakura sitting on his couch. He raises an eyebrow and she shrugs. 

“Sasuke said he was running home to change clothes and he’d meet us back here in like 10.” Just as she finishes her sentence, the front door is opening again and Sasuke is back, wearing fresh clothes and that familiar scowl. 

“Okay! Let's get this over with!” Sakura announces excitedly. 


	5. Best Friends Who Steal Together, Stay Together.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Sakura snorted and giggled behind them, Sasuke debated on whether or not he thought he could find Orochimaru’s hideout in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhh! Hey y’all!   
So, Gilitine pointed out that I messed up with the ending of the last chapter (Thankyou!! :)) so it’s been fixed.   
They were supposed to get to the academy and do their graduation exam, NOT receive their team assignments. 
> 
> I haven’t edited this chapter that much, mainly bc it’s been a rough ass day so I came home and started drinking 💀😂 and so now I’m pretty tipsy as I finish this up. 
> 
> My b. 
> 
> As always, please let me know what you think!!! Yalls comments really do make my day and make writing this worth it!!!!

“Ah, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke. Good morning. You guys are just in time, I was worried you three were gonna be late, please, take your seats, we were just about to start the graduation exam.” 

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura quickly scatter, scurrying to their seats. 

After sliding into his seat, Naruto can’t help but watch Iruka. 

There’s an odd look on his face that Naruto doesn’t quite recognize, but it’s gone as soon as it appears so Naruto tries not to worry about it much. Instead, he focuses on remembering what the graduation exam  _ was.  _

_ He couldn’t remember.  _

Naruto blinked and stared down at his desk. 

_ Why couldn’t he remember?  _

Naruto glances over at Sasuke. 

He’s sitting with his elbows on the desk and his fingers laced in front of his face, pressed against his mouth. 

_ Something he commonly did back during their genin days when he was thinking.  _

_ Naruto had always found it annoyingly endearing.  _

But now, it just makes him want to slam his own head into his desk because  _ of course  _ he remembers what Sasuke looks like when he’s thinking he can’t remember what was in the exam he’d failed several times when he was a kid. 

“Okay so I will be calling you guys in alphabetical order based on your last name and you’ll follow me into another room to complete the test. Once you finish with the exam, be it pass or fail, you will not be allowed back in this room until everyone’s taken it.” 

“First up is Shino Aburame” Iruka called and Shino stood quietly and followed Iruka out of the room. 

Once the two had left, Naruto was up out of his seat and hurrying towards Sasuke’s. 

He plopped himself down in the seat next to Sasuke. 

Sasuke glanced at him out off the corner of his eye. 

“I need your help!” Naruto whispered urgently. Sasuke raised his eyebrow. 

“I don’t remember what the exam  _ was _ ” Naruto said, starting to scratch at the back of his head nervously. 

“It was making a clone” Sakura’s voice cut in as she took the seat in front of them and scooted the chair back so she could lean on the desk. 

Naruto’s eyes blew wide as it sunk in. 

_ He couldn’t create regular clones, only use the shadow clone technique... from that scroll…. he’d stolen for Mizuki-sensei. _

_ “ _ What's wrong Naruto?” Sakura asked and Naruto started to pull on his hair. 

“I’m fucked” Naruto said quietly. Sakura blinked and sat back. 

“What do you mean? You use shadow clones all the time” Sakura pointed out, which only had Naruto sinking down in his chair. He laughed nervously. 

“Yeah uh, about that… Shadow Clone is kind of a forbidden jutsu. I only know that because I stole the scroll from the hokage’s office after I failed the exams” 

“You whAT?” Sakura exclaimed, drawing the attention of their other classmates. Naruto’s face turned bright red and he slid further down in his seat. 

“Shhhhh. No ones supposed to know” Naruto hissed quietly. Sakura blinked a few times before shaking her head, “Right. Sorry. But you need to explain” she said sternly and Naruto swallowed hard and looked to Sasuke for support but he was only staring back at Naruto out of the corner of his eye, mouth hidden behind his clasped hands but Naruto was  _ sure  _ he was laughing behind there. 

“I’m curious too. How did an idiot like you manage to steal something from the Hokage’s office?” Naruto glared and just as he opened his mouth, the classroom door opened. 

“Choji Akamichi, you’re up next” Iruka said, popping his head in. He glanced over at The former,  _ or is it the future  _ Team 7 and he made that face again before Choji made it down to the door and followed him out. 

Naruto groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. 

“After I failed the exam, Mizuki-Sensei convinced me to sneak into the office and steal this scroll for him. I can’t remember what made it seem like a good idea to me but I did it and then he tried to kill me and Iruka saved me” Naruto explained quietly, in a hurry. 

“So basically you can’t show them that you know shadow clone so you’ll have to fail the exam and steal the scroll again?” Sasuke asked leaning back in his seat. Sakura gawked. 

“You can’t!” She whisper yelled, looking absolutely scandalized that Sasuke would suggest such a thing. 

Naruto sighed and started to pick at his nails. 

“I really don’t see a way around it. Sasuke’s right. I can’t just walk in there and show them a forbidden jutsu without them asking  _ how  _ I know it.” Naruto whispered before groaning quietly, “ugh I’m gonna have to steal the scroll and fight Mizuki-Sensei again” 

He laid his head down on the desk with a soft bang before lifting his head up slightly and letting it fall back down onto the table. 

“I’ll come with you” Sasuke said and Naruto’s head shot up. 

For the second time in 2 days, Naruto was rendered speechless so he just stared at Sasuke who rolled his eyes and looked away. 

“To steal the scroll I mean. I’ve done worse. Plus, there’s something I’d like to check out while I’m there anyways” he continued, refusing to meet Naruto’s eyes and  _ was that a blush?!  _

“Kiba Inuzuka, it’s your turn” Iruka said sticking his head back in the classroom” Kiba stood and Akamaru,  _ who’d been laying on Kiba’s head,  _ barked. 

Naruto waited for the door to close before he started talking again, 

“Are you sure Sasuke? I got in some serious trouble for it” He said. 

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure. Hn, dobe” Sasuke muttered and Naruto couldn’t help but gape. 

“Teme!” He hissed back under his breath, but he was smiling, “Okay, So I’ll fail the exam today and we can go get the scroll tonight.” He finished quietly. Sasuke gave a short nod. 

****

Sakura made an indignant noise as she stared at the two boys in front of her. 

“You two are both idiots.” Sakura said finally, shaking her head. 

The door opened again, “Sakura Haruno, you’re next” Iruka called and she sighed quietly before standing up. 

She turned her attention to both boys, cracking a smile. 

She took a deep breath, “wish me luck,” she said before spinning on her heel and heading down to the door. 

“Goodluck Sakura-chan!” Naruto called after her with a wave. He turned back to Sasuke and then he got serious, “Okay so this is what we’re gonna do” 

********

Hinata was the next to go, then Shikamaru, leaving only Sasuke, Naruto, and Ino left.

Naruto hadn’t moved from his spot pressed up against Sasuke and Ino was eyeing them suspiciously, but Sasuke didn’t particularly  _ care what she thought _ so he let it happen.

Naruto was chattering away about something,  _ probably something that happened while he was gone  _ but Sasuke’s mind was elsewhere. 

_ Particularly on last night.  _

He’d given in and gone to Naruto’s last night and he’d been  _ caught,  _ not only by Naruto but also by  _ Sakura _ . 

The knowledge that Sakura knew he’d spent the night at Narutos was enough to make Sasuke’s cheeks warm. 

_ He can’t believe he actually went to Naruto’s.  _

_ It had been ... surprisingly calming.  _

Naruto hadn’t made it a big deal,  _ not like he had when he offered and for that,  _ Sasuke was grateful, although  _ that didn’t mean he was going to spend the night again.  _

He  _ couldn’t show that kind of weakness again.  _

Suddenly, Naruto poked Sasuke’s side and he flinched back. 

“It’s your turn! Goodluck!” He whispered and that’s when Sasuke realized that Iruka was standing in the doorway, waiting. 

So, Sasuke heaved a sigh, pulled himself up out of his chair and made his way down to the door. Right before he left, he cast one glance back and he felt his cheeks warm when Naruto flashed him a bright smile and a thumbs up. 

*******

As soon as the door shut behind Sasuke and Iruka, Naruto let out the breath he’d been holding and dropped his head back down onto his desk with a groan. 

There was the sound of a chair scraping that came from across the room. 

Naruto smelled Ino before he saw her. 

Identifying people by smell was something he’d picked up without realizing it, since the Kyuubi heightened his senses and Ino always smelled like Hyacinths and honey. 

She brought her palms down in his desk, causing Naruto to flail and almost fall out of his chair. 

He put his hand over his chest in an attempt to calm his beating heart and thanked god he didn’t accidentally punch her in the face. 

Ino leaned over so her face was barely 6 inches from his. 

Naruto cleared his throat and scooted his chair back. 

“So, are you and Sasuke like friends now? I thought you two hated each other.” Ino never beat around the bush, if she had something to ask she was going to get right to it. Naruto usually admired her for it but right now he fucking hated her for it. 

Naruto swallowed hard.  _ Fuck, He was a bad liar.  _

“Uh, yeah we were both tired of fighting all the time” Naruto explained, mentally patting himself on the back because it wasn’t  _ technically a lie.  _ He smiled nervously as Ino examined him. 

“And Sakura too? You two are friends with her too?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, she isn’t so bad, not like she  _ used _ to be” Naruto said and then he wanted to smack himself. 

“Used to be?” Ino echoed, cocking her head to the side. Naruto swallowed again.  _ His mouth was suddenly so dry.  _

_ “ _ Yeah you know like, obsessed with Sasuke? She isn’t so much anymore. They’ve worked it out.” Naruto explained, adding on a hasty ‘I think!’ At the end. 

Ino blinked. 

“So does that mean she doesn’t like him anymore?” Ino asked, suddenly leaning in really close. 

Naruto scratched at his face. 

“I’m not sure. you’d have to ask  _ her _ ” Naruto replied, desperately trying to keep his cool. 

Ino opened her mouth to say something else but Naruto never got to hear it because then the door opened and he was down the stairs and in front of Iruka in seconds. 

“Bye Ino!” Naruto called over his shoulder, waving at the now gawking blond, as if she couldn’t believe he would  _ run away  _ from her. 

“I’ve got a test to fail” Naruto mumbled to himself. 

“What was that?” Iruka asked. 

“Oh nothing! Heh” Naruto quickly replied, throwing up both of his hands. 

“Okaaaaay.” 

*******

Failing the exam was a lot easier than Naruto expected. 

_ Turns out he doesn’t even remember what the hand signs for a regular clone jutsu even is!  _

Pretending to be  _ upset about failing was much harder.  _

Naruto had trouble faking anything and tryin to be upset about something that actually made him giddy  _ because he was gonna go steal a forbidden scroll with Sasuke of all people, was  _ ** _hard. _ **

Naruto pulled at his hair and tried his absolute best to look crestfallen, and he  _ thinks _ Jiji bought it, but he can never be sure because Jiji  _ doesn’t make facial expressions. It’s the wrinkles, he bets.  _

  
  


Iruka kneels down and pats Naruto on the head, “I’m sorry Naruto but I cannot pass you without you knowing the clone technique.” Iruka said solemnly. Naruto tries his best to look disappointed. 

“Okay.” He said dejectedly, scuffing his shoe on the floor. 

“Awh don’t worry Naruto, there’s always a next time!” Mizuki says cheerfully, clapping Naruto on the shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

Knowing that Mizuki was about to betray him in less than 24 hours made Naruto feel sick because  _ how can he act so friendly but be so cruel??  _

“Yeah, I guess so.” Naruto continued on, as Mizuki walked him out of the room, keeping his hand on His shoulder. 

“Mizuki-Sensei, do you think that I’ll ever pass?” Naruto asked, trying to force himself to be hopeful. 

“You know Naruto, I think I know  _ a  _ way, but you gotta keep it a secret” Mizuki-Sensei said, placing his finger in front of his lips with a grin. 

“Really? What is it?!” Naruto asked, letting his excitement about the prospect of doing a ‘mission’ with Sasuke once more, bleed into his voice. Mizuki pulled him into an empty classroom and looked around. 

“Okay so, in the Hokage Tower theres this scroll that’s locked up. It’s called the scroll of sealing.” Mizuki explained but Naruto had already turned him out, too excited about the thought of getting to work with Sasuke. 

********

“You ready?” Sasuke asked Naruto from his spot leaning up against the door of Naruto’s apartment. Naruto nodded, readjusting his bag on his shoulder. 

Sasuke gave a short nod before turning around and opening the door, revealing a nervous looking Sakura, still in full gear. 

“Sakura-Chan? What’re you doing here?” Naruto asked, worried she was here to stop them. Sakura twirled her hair around on her finger. 

“I wanna come with you guys” She said, still nervous. Naruto blinked in confusion. 

“I thought you said we were idiots?” He asked. Sakura smiled. 

“Yeah, but you’re my idiots and I came to help!” She said with a grin. 

Naruto sent a questioning gaze Sasuke’s way as if to ask,  _ can she come?  _ Noticing his hesitation, Sakura turned her attention over to Sasuke who after a moment's contemplation sighed deeply. 

“I guess, We could always use a look out” he said gruffly, pushing past her and stepping out the apartment. 

Naruto and Sakura stared at him in shock for a few seconds before he sighed again, “come on you two, we don’t have all night.” he huffed. 

Sakura and Naruto cheered quietly and Sasuke had to turn around quickly so they wouldn’t see his face reddening. 

“Let’s get a move on then!” Naruto exclaimed excitedly, suddenly crashing into Sasuke and throwing an arm around his shoulder, he pointed forward and began borderline dragging Sasuke. 

As Sakura snorted and giggled behind them, Sasuke debated on whether or not he thought he could find Orochimaru’s hideout in the dark. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I wanna say a special thanks to Elianlovescats for all the comments!!!  
Your comments always make me smile!! Thankyou!! :) 
> 
> Also, last thing, if anyone wants to ask me any questions or just yell with me about this AU then see me on Tumblr @ PharmercyTechnician


	6. The Worst Teammates EVER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto huffed loudly and crossed his arms, much like a child would when they didn’t get their way. Sasuke found it painfully endearing. 
> 
> “Whatever. You two are rude. I have the worst teammates ever! Gah!” Naruto grumbled, only making Sakura laugh even harder. Sasuke couldn’t help but crack a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hate this chapter! :’)  
I don’t know what it is about this chapter but I greatly dislike it. Idk. Maybe I’ll redo it someday. 
> 
> Anyways. I hope you like it! :)   
Anyone wanna take a guess at what Sasuke is looking for specifically? >:)
> 
> As always, Let me know what you think!

Naruto drug Sasuke almost all the way to the tower, only quieting down when they were close enough to be heard. 

Naruto dropped his arm,  _ at some point he’d gone from arm around Sasuke’s shoulders to linking their arms,  _ and Sasuke tried not to feel disappointed when he let go. 

_ Is this what I could’ve had?  _

Sasuke trashes the thought the moment it crosses his mind because  _ the past is the past and there’s no reason to dwell on ‘what could’ve been’s _

_ Plus, Naruto could never like him. Not like  _ ** _that. _ **

_ He was too amazing, too bright, he lit up rooms wherever he went and Sasuke was just so… Sasuke, dark, dry and dreary. _

_ Not to mention he was broken, damaged beyond repair.  _

_ Naruto didn’t deserve to have to deal with that.  _

Sasuke was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost crashed right into Naruto’s back but Sakura yanked on his shirt and managed to stop him just short of it. 

Embarrassed, Sasuke mumbled a quick “Thankyou” but he didn’t turn around.  _ Didn’t want to see Sakura laughing at him.  _

For a minute, Naruto just stared up at the building in front of them and scratched at his head but then his face lit up and then he was running. 

Instead of climbing the stairs,  _ like Sasuke would’ve done, _ Naruto took to walking up the side of the building, a feat that honestly seemed laughable to Sasuke.  _ Just use the stairs dobe.  _

Sakura blinked up at the building, “should we follow him?” She asked blankly. Sasuke shrugged. 

Naruto reached the window and crouched, leaning over it just enough to peek inside and when he seemed satisfied he pushed the window open and climbed inside. 

The next few minutes felt like hours, and Sasuke had to stop himself from following after Naruto about 3 times before he finally poked his head back out and motioned for them to come up. 

Sasuke and Sakura shared a look and she shot him a grin before they were both off. 

“Thank god that I can still control my chakra well enough to do this” Sakura mumbled quietly to herself as she cradled her still busted arm to her chest and began walking up the side of the building as if it were the most natural thing ever. 

Sasuke was the first over the windowsill and he groaned inwardly at how strenuous the task had been. 

_ Why was this body so damn weak?  _

_ What had he done to deserve this?? _

_ Oh yeah, war criminal right. Got it.  _

Sakura came next and Sasuke had to help her through, what with her having only the one hand. 

_ ‘You and Naruto blow off each other’s arms in a fight yet Sakura’s the only one who can’t use both her arms right now’  _ Sasuke snickered at the thought and shook his head when Sakura sent him a questioning look. 

Naruto was digging through the Hokage's desk while Sasuke elected to just wander around the office slowly  _ he honestly wasn’t sure  _ what it was that he was looking for  _ he figured he’d know it when he saw it.  _

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Sakura walked over to and sat in front of the office door back against it. She leaned her head back until she was resting against it then she closed her eyes,  _ listening for anyone in the hall.  _

Sasuke opened a filing cabinet and started to sort through the various reports. 

_ “Aha!” Naruto whisper yelled, holding up what looked just like a simple scroll.  _

He waved it around in the air and did a little dance. Sasuke snorted into his hand. 

_ “I got ittttt~” Naruto  _ quietly singsonged to himself as he stashed the scroll in his bag. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned back to the filing cabinet. 

Suddenly, Naruto leaned over Sasuke, pressing his chest to his back and tucking his chin into Sasuke’s shoulder. 

“Whatcha looking for?” He whispered into Sasuke’s ear, causing goosebumps to erupt all over his arms and it took everything in him not to flip Naruto over his shoulder and primary lotus the  _ fuck outta him because why the fuck did he always have to get so close?  _

_ Was he trying to kill Sasuke? _

“Something important” Sasuke replied, skirting around the question because he wasn’t sure if he wanted to  _ kick that hornets nest just yet.  _ Naruto made a big show of throwing himself off of Sasuke and sitting cross-legged on the floor, and actually  _ pouting.  _

Sasuke shook his head and continued looking. 

“I could help if you told me yah know?” Naruto suggested with a smirk as Sasuke opened the next drawer. Sasuke just shook his head again and continued to thumb through the papers. 

“Guys! someone’s coming!” Sakura hissed from across the room, a panicked look on her face. Naruto paled and Sasuke resolved to riffle  _ faster.  _

_ He was finding that report goddamnit!  _

“Guys! We gotta go!” Sakura said urgently, hurrying to the window. 

“Sasuke let's go! We’ll have to find it another time” Naruto grabbed a hold of Sasuke’s arm but he flung him off. 

“Not yet I’m not leaving without it” he hissed to Naruto. 

The footsteps in the hall were getting louder,  _ closer.  _

_ Now,  _ Sasuke was in overdrive, flipping through the files as if his life depended on it,  _ well, he supposed in one way it did.  _

Naruto huffed angrily before shaking his head. He spun on his heel and marched to the window, throwing a leg over the sill. 

The footsteps were getting louder by the second but Sasuke could barely hear them over the sound of his blood rushing through his ears. 

He had a feeling that if he didn’t find it tonight, he’d never get another chance to look. 

_ He was so close.  _

Sasuke froze as he heard the sound of a lock turning over. 

He held his breath and waited but the door never swung open because the next thing he knew was, “Naruto? What’re you doing here this late?” 

Sasuke snapped his head around and stared in the direction of the door. He recognized that voice,  _ lord Third, the bastard.  _

As Naruto prattled off some bullshit excuse to the third, Sasuke realized that he was  _ buying him time.  _

_ God, what did he ever do  _ ** _without_ ** _ Naruto?  _

_ He’s gonna have to take him out for ramen after this.  _

Sasuke picked up the pace as he frantically thumbed through the reports. 

Finally, he found what he was looking for.  _ The Uchiha family file.  _

Not having a chance to look through it, he simply shoved the entire file into his bag and shut the drawers as quietly as possible before he hurried over to the window. 

Sakura was already at the bottom, waiting and she looked every bit as tense as Sasuke felt at the moment. Sitting on the ground next to her was Naruto, or actually a clone because he dispelled as soon as he caught sight of Sasuke. 

Sasuke started his descent and he was about halfway down before he realized he didn’t  _ close the fucking window.  _

Just as the window was clicking shut, light from the hallway spilled into the office and Sasuke lost his concentration on his chakra control,  _ or maybe it was another one of those ‘chakra surges’ that Sakura had told him and Naruto about,  _ but either way Sasuke didn’t have much time to debate on what caused it because the next thing he knew was that he was falling. 

Sasuke reached out with his hand and as his fingers grazed the bricks, Sasuke realized in horror, that he couldn’t refocus his chakra to stop his descent. 

Accepting his impending doom, Sasuke closed his eyes, readying himself to slam into the concrete from a height that would most definitely kill him, only instead of hitting the cold unforgiving sidewalk, he landed on something slightly softer. Still hard, but softer than pavement. 

“Oof. Ouch” Sakura grumbled from underneath him and it took Sasuke a full second before he scrambled off of her and pulled her up to her feet. 

“Good god that hurt.” Sakura groaned out, rubbing at her busted arm. Sasuke looked away, embarrassed that she had to catch him.  _ Or well let him use her as a cushion. _ He rubbed at his forehead. 

“Thanks for uh, catching me” he said awkwardly. Expressing gratitude was not something that Sasuke could say he was particularly skilled at. In fact one could say that Sasuke Uchiha was the least charismatic person in the land of fire,  _ his charisma was that of a dead fish, it stinks,  _ as Suigetsu would say. 

His heart ached at the thought of Suigetsu and idly Sasuke wondered what he was doing right now, same with Karin and Juugo. 

“What happened?” She asked, cocking her head to the side. Sasuke blinked a few times before staring down at his hands and flexing his fingers. 

“I dunno it’s like… I couldn’t focus my chakra… actually I don’t think I can…” he tried to create a chidori, but nothing happened, no spark, no crackling sound, just his bare palms glaring back up at him. 

Panic was welling up in his chest but Sasuke shoved it back down and smothered it. 

He felt sick. “I can’t use my chakra” he said, voice barley above a whisper. 

_ He couldn’t sense or gather it at all.  _

It left him feeling far more vulnerable than he’d like. 

Naruto rounded the corner then and Sasuke’s thoughts came to a screeching halt as Naruto stomped up to him,  _ quite angrily it seemed.  _

Naruto stopped in front of him and crossed his arms. 

“I can’t believe you! We were so close to getting caught because of you!! What was so important?!” Naruto started off loud but with a dirty look from Sakura, quieted down to a furious whisper. 

“It’s…” Sasuke struggled for the right word, “personal” he finished feeling more than slightly awkward. 

Apparently it was the right word choice because Naruto’s eyes softened ever so slightly. 

“Okay. I’m sure you have your reasons… like always” the last part was said so quietly that Sasuke was sure he’d just imagined it. 

“Uh, Naruto it’s getting kinda late what time were you supposed to meet with Mizuki-Sensei for the trade off?” Sakura asked. Naruto’s eyes widened. 

“Oh shoot I forgot! Let’s go!” He said with a grin and started off running in the direction of the woods. Sasuke felt disappointed at the fact that Naruto hasn’t linked their arms together again. 

_ He doesn’t want to touch you anymore.  _

_ You were rude to him and this is your punishment.  _

Something tugged on Sasuke’s arm, and he couldn’t help but blush when he realized It was Naruto. 

He grinned at Sasuke before linking their arms once more and then proceeded to  _ drag  _ Sasuke forward. 

“You’re too slow! Let’s go Teme! We got a Sensei to fight.” He said confidently. Sakura hummed in agreement. 

They were halfway there when Sakura spoke up. 

“So what happened last time you took the scroll?” She asked, glancing back at Naruto before turning her attention back to walking. 

Naruto scratched his scars and thought about it. 

“Well, I guess that I stole the scroll and while I was waiting for Mizuki-Sensei to show up I started to read the scroll. By the time he got there, id already learned the jutsu.” He said shrugging. They reached the clearing and Naruto quickly scaled a tree and got comfortable on one of the branches. Sasuke and Sakura followed suit. 

“What happened after? You said you fought him?” She asked once she was seated. 

“Oh, well he started telling me all this weird shit about how I had a demon sealed inside of me and that made me a demon too and that everyone in the village hated me so I should just let him kill me to do everyone a favor. And at the time I didn’t even know about Kurama and-” Naruto froze, “oh my god Kurama!! I totally forgot!!” He shrieked, pulling up his shirt to expose his  _ sealless  _ stomach. 

Sasuke wasn’t really paying attention anymore, too focused on what Naruto had said before he suddenly remembered he had a demon sealed inside of himself. 

_ How does one forget that?  _

Hearing that Mizuki, an instructor they were supposed to be able to look up to, had told his best friend that he should just go ahead and just die to do everyone a favor, had rage bubbling up in his chest. 

He shoved it down and turned his attention back to Naruto. 

“I’m sorry buddy!” Naruto said as he stared down at his still naked stomach, glaring at it as if willing the seal to activate and break that way. 

“How do I like activate this thing?!” Naruto growled, aggressively poking at his stomach. 

“You broke it before didn’t you?” Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew Naruto had already partially broken the seal that kept Kurama dormant during their first fight in the valley. 

_ The one where Sasuke failed to cut Narufo down.  _

_ Where Naruto had laid his heart out for Sasuke and he’d repaid him by trying to put his  _ ** _hand_ ** _ through it.  _

“Yeah but I don’t really remember howwwww!” Narhto whined. 

He sniffles dramatically and wiped away an imaginary tear, “I miss him.” He mumbled. Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

“You literally only remembered him like 2 seconds ago” Sasuke said and Naruto sniffed angrily at Sasuke and glared. 

“Not true!!! I’ve felt off since I woke up in my bed again! Maybe I forgot him but I still knew something was missing! Believe it!” He said exasperated. 

Sakura snickered and covered her mouth with her hand. Naruto sent her a glare and it only served to make her giggle harder. 

Naruto huffed loudly and crossed his arms, much like a child would when they didn’t get their way. Sasuke found it painfully endearing. 

“Whatever. You two are rude. I have the worst teammates. Gah!” Naruto grumbled, only making Sakura laugh even harder. Sasuke couldn’t help but crack a smile _ . _

“Imagine how we feel having the villages number one most unpredictable ninja on our team?” Sasuke shots back and for a second, he’s worried he’s said something horribly wrong but then Naruto starts giggling. 

“Hey! you aren’t exactly a peach yourself mrr. Uhhhhh… cryptic broody man.” He replied crossing his arms and looking pleased with himself.

“Cryptic Broody man? Is that the best you can do? what does that even mean?! I am not cryptic!” Sasuke cried, crossing his own arms. Next to him, Sakura was wheezing she was laughing so hard. 

“You know! When you’re all like ‘when I sever our bonds’ and like ‘I only dream of the past’ you’re one cryptic bastard. Half the time I didn’t even know what you were talking about!” Naruto was mocking Sasuke’s voice by talking in one that was super deep. 

Half of Sasuke wants to be angry, to put Naruto in his place, but the other half just wants to laugh. 

He spent all that time trying to come up with deep and meaningful words to say to Naruto,  _ to make himself sound cool,  _ but he should’ve known that Naruto wouldn’t understand,  _ nor care about  _ a word of it.

“It’s not my fault you can’t understand anything but simple sentences” he shot back. The corners of Sasuke’s lips twitched up in an effort to smile but then he quickly forced himself to remain impassive.

_ God, Sasuke had missed this. This easy banter between him and Naruto.  _

Naruto opened his mouth, then closed it then opened it again. “Yeah well!” He started but then froze and sniffed at the air. When he looked at Sasuke again he was serious. 

“He’s here” he said. Sakura abruptly stopped laughing and sat up straight. 

“Then it’s show time” she responded, sharing a smile with Naruto and pulling herself up to stand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke: “I don’t sleep. I only dream”  
Naruto: “What the fUcK does that mean?!”


	7. A Long Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 7 faces down with Mizuki, Iruka is reasonably angry, and Sasuke realizes he needs to think things through before he acts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!!! 
> 
> So, this last week has been HELL and I haven’t really been that motivated to write but I promised myself I wouldn’t give up on this fic so soon lol sooooooo, I did it! 💀 I got chapter 7 written. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! Sorry it’s alittle short.
> 
> Oh!! And I created a Kofi! https://www.ko-fi.com/pharmercytechnician   
And I’ve decided to do commissions for whoever buys me one! 1000 words per kofi :))

“Both of you need to hide for now.” Naruto whispered quietly, digging the scroll out of his bag. 

Sasuke opened his mouth to tell naruto that _ not only _ was that a stupid idea but also _ he had no way to suppress his chakra, fuck if he even was emitting any. _

But then, Sakura placed her hand on his shoulder and he clamped his jaw shut. 

She grinned at him and pulled him into her side, so they were both obscured from view by the trunk of the tree. 

Naruto swung down from his place in the tree, clutching the scroll to his chest and dropped himself to the ground, unwrapping the scroll and rolling it out on the ground. 

He leaned over it and pretended to read over it and practice hand signs until Mizuki finally stepped forward into the clearing. 

“Mizuki-Sensei! I got it, I got it!” Naruto said excitedly, jumping up to his feet he waved the scroll around. 

Mizuki eyed Naruto with a look of disgust on his face that made Sasuke’s blood boil and judging by the way Sakura tightened her grip on his shoulder, it pissed her off just as much. He reached out his hand for the scroll but Naruto yanked the scroll back and clutched it tightly to his chest. 

“No! I’m not giving it to you until you pass me” Naruto challenged, taking a step back. Mizuki sighed and rolled his eyes. 

“This childish behavior is exactly why you’ll never be a ninja” Mizuki said crossing his arms and Sasuke balled his hands into fists. Naruto looked taken aback. 

“But you said!” He cried, clutching the scroll even tighter. Mizuki laughed and it sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Sasuke. 

“Damn kid. It’s called lying. As if they’d let a demon like you become a shinobi” Mizuki spit the word demon out as if it tasted bad and Sasuke grit his teeth. He was sure that Sakura was gripping his shoulder hard enough to bruise now but he couldn’t be bothered to care. All he could think of at the moment was tearing Mizuki limb from limb until he apologized to Naruto. 

“I'm not a demon!” Naruto yelled backing up further. Mizuki laughed again. 

“Sorry to tell yah kid but you are. I know you’ve heard all the talk about the demon fox who killed half our village 12 years ago.” Mizuki said. 

“What’s that got to do with me?” Naruto asked

“God you sure are stupid. I’m gonna have to spell it out here aren’t I? They couldn’t kill the demon fox so the fourth did something horribly stupid and sealed the fox into a newborn. Into _ you. _ That’s why no one in the village likes you. It’s because they see the _ demon that you really are. _ The one who killed our friends and families and destroyed our village. My parents died because of _ you _ . You should just do us all a favor and ** _DIE!” _ **Mizuki snarled before he dove at Naruto, kunai in hand. 

Sasuke was out of Sakura’s grip and in front of Naruto in a flash, his own kunai clashing against Mizuki’s. 

“Uchiha?? What are you doing here you little brat?!” Mizuki snarled again before retreating backwards. Sasuke glared at Mizuki. He could feel his sharingan swirling beneath the surface and Sasuke could have laughed. 

_ Of all the times for it to come back. Of course it had to be _ ** _now. _ **

He dug his fingernails into his palms to keep himself from activating it here.

_ He couldn’t risk it activating badly and him passing out. _

Mizuki smirked and pulled a shuriken from his bag off his back and raised it up. 

“No matter. I’ll just cut you down too. Two for the price of one. Not only will I get to cut down the demon fox but also the last member of the bloody Uchiha. It’s your clans fault the nine-tails even got loose!” He growled and Sasuke scoffed at his words. He readied his kunai and glared. 

Mizuki raised his shuriken but suddenly there was a flash of red and pink and then Sakura had her arm around Mizuki’s throat and a kunai pressed against the side of it. 

“I suggest you drop it, that is unless you _ want _me to sever your carotid artery and let you bleed out on the ground?” Sakura said sweetly. She pressed the tip of the kunai just hard enough to draw blood. 

Mizuki paled and froze. 

“Haruno? What the hell is going on?” He asked but all he received in response was an increased pressure on his neck. Everyone stood still for a few tense seconds before Mizuki sighed and dropped the shuriken. Then, _ all hell broke loose. _

The moment the shuriken hit the ground there was a large puff of smoke and Sakura suddenly stumbled forward as Mizuki disappeared, replaced with a log. 

“Substitution?” She questioned angrily, more to herself than anything. 

She whipped her head around to see if she could spot him but was at a loss. 

Sasuke felt a breeze from behind and he spun around just in time to see Mizuki appear behind Naruto. 

He raised his kunai without thinking and slung it in Naruto’s direction. Naruto’s eyes widened slightly before flashing in understanding. 

Naruto hit the ground like a sack full of rocks and the kunai flew over his head and tore into Mizuki’s shoulder.

Mizuki hissed and slid back clutching at his shoulder. Naruto was up in a flash, spinning around and moving so that he stood at Sasuke’s side. 

He shot him a sideways grin and Sasuke couldn’t help but grin back. 

_ Fighting was like breathing when he was with Naruto. _

Still holding the scroll tightly to his chest, Naruto formed the hands sign for his clone jutsu. 

Suddenly about 50 something Naruto’s appeared in a puff of smoke. 

Despite how many times Sasuke had watched Naruto use the shadow clone jutsu, it still amazed Sasuke that Naruto could create so many clones and still function.

But the moment the clones started to move, Sasuke sensed that something was wrong. Naruto swayed at his side and Sasuke’s blood ran cold. He managed to turn just in time to keep Naruto from toppling over. 

Naruto latched onto Sasuke’s arm and pushed himself back up to standing. 

Meanwhile, the clones Naruto had created continued on as if nothing was amiss. 

They swung and swiped at Mizuki who was struggling to take out the clones while simultaneously dodging their attacks. 

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of watching the clones dive at Mizuki, one of them caught him from behind and jumped into his back forcing him to stagger. 

The added weight ended up toppling Mizuki over and Sakura was back behind him within seconds of him hitting the ground. 

The clone dispelled at the same time Sakura dropped down. She put her knee in the middle of his back and yanked his hands around to hold them behind his back. 

She pressed them down against his back and brought the non sharp side of her kunai down against the back of his skull. 

Naruto and Sasuke couldn’t help but wince at the noise it made. 

“That’s gotta hurt” Naruto mumbled and Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Hn. Can you stand?” He asked Naruto who had the audacity to look _ confused _. 

He wiggled his arm, and then realization dawned on Naruto’s face which then turned bright red. 

“Y-yeah I’m good now I think” Naruto stuttered our as he let go. Sasuke rolled his eyes again. 

“Hn. Good” Sasuke replied

“I don’t know if you two have noticed but I’ve only got the one fuckin hand at the moment. Sooooo. I could really use some help” She called. Sasuke blinked and looked over to where she was. She had a bit of rope looped around her bad hand and the other was still holding the _ now unconscious _Mizuki’s hands down. She raised an eyebrow which prompted both boys to jolt into action. 

“So you’re saying you need us to lend you… a hand?” Naruto asked snickering. Sakura rolled her eyes before huffing and muttering something along the lines of “should’ve just let you get sliced in half” 

The three shinobi made quick work of tying up their now indisposed Sensei. 

Once they were done, Sakura wiped her hands _ well hand _off on her dress and Sasuke pulled her up to her feet. Then, she heaved a loud sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. 

“Well. Glad that’s over now” Naruto said as he walked back up to the two. After having retrieved the scroll from where he’d dropped it when he’d almost passed out, he rolled it back up and tucked it under his arm. 

“Maybe we can return it before the old man finds out” he said patting the scroll. 

“Oh, I think it’s a little late for that. I’m pretty sure he already knows” an unknown voice cut in. The three shinobi snapped their attention over to Iruka who was pushing his way through the brush. 

He looked over the three kids standing before him before he turned his attention to Mizuki who laid incapacitated at Sakura and Sasuke’s feet. 

He raised an eyebrow before turning his attention back to the other three. He crossed his arms. 

“Would anyone like to explain to me just what in the hell is going on here?” He asked. 

Both Sakura and Sasuke instantly pointed at Naruto who gulped. 

_ “Traitors” _Naruto hissed underneath his breath as he stepped forward. He nervously scratched at his whiskers. 

“Well. You see. What had happened was…” 

  


*****

  


In the end, Mizuki was _ arrested and tried _ for coercing a 12 year old to steal a forbidden scroll from the Hokage’s office and despite Naruto’s insistence that it was all his idea and that he’d just drug Sakura and Sasuke along for the ride, all three of them were punished. “A week's worth of Community Service” the hokage had called it. _ Which was really just a whole bunch of D-ranks without the pay. _

“Cruel and unusual punishment” is what Naruto had called it to which Sakura smacked him on the arm and Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

After they were “sentenced” by the council, they were released and Iruka offered to buy them all dinner afterwards, _ since it was only like 8 o’clock. _

Naruto, whose stomach growled the moment food was mentioned, readily agreed and after a bit of convincing, Sakura reluctantly agreed to come along. Sasuke, however, tried to duck out of it by feigning exhaustion, _ which to be fair he probably was exhausted, _but Naruto was having none of it. 

“He’s coming” Naruto announced loudly, grabbing a hold of Sasuke’s shirt sleeve he quite literally started to drag Sasuke alongside him. 

Sasuke, irritated and tired, wrenched his shirt out of Naruto’s grasp and huffed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. 

“Fine. I’ll come. But I can walk on my own… dobe” Sasuke muttered. Naruto blinked owlishly at Sasuke before grabbing a hold of his shirt once more. 

“Im very aware that you _ can _ but I also know _ you and I know _that you’ll try and sneak off the first chance you get. So, I’m making sure you don’t.” Naruto huffed and resumed dragging the Uchiha who then stalled and caused Naruto to be yanked back by his shoulder. He collided with Sasuke. 

“What the hell Teme?!” Naruto yelled. Behind him, he could hear Sakura snickering and Iruka asking if “they were always like this”. Naruto wanted to spin around and as “like what?!” But he caught sight of Sasuke’s death glare. 

“I said I can walk on my _ own. _” Sasuke said lowly and Naruto swallowed hard. 

_ Fucking why couldn’t he go more than 24 hours without setting Sasuke off?!? _Naruto racked his brain for something to say that wouldn’t further fuck up the situation but he came up empty handed so he sheepishly dropped Sasuke’s shirt. 

“Sorry.” Naruto said laughing nervously. He reached out and patted the rumbled corner of Sasuke’s shirt in a weak attempt to smooth it. Meanwhile, Sasuke continued to glare. Naruto gulped. 

“Sorry again. You know I don’t think… hah haha” he continued to laugh nervously. After what felt like _ years, _Sasuke heaved a sigh and held out his hand. Naruto blinked and raised an eyebrow and Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

“If you’re intent on dragging me id rather you _ not _ rip my shirt. So” he trailed off and waved his hand around. Naruto wasn’t _ sure _but he’s fairly certain that he saw a blush.

Naruto stared at him wide eyed for a minute before it clicked and he nodded. 

“Yeah. Yeah of. Of course” Naruto stuttered out as he hesitantly laced his fingers with Sasuke’s. 

He turned around and his jaw dropped. 

_ Iruka and Sakura were nowhere to be seen. _

“Where they go?!” He cried. The panic of going home hungry was already setting in. Beside him, Sasuke snorted. 

“Oh they walked off while we were arguing” he said and Naruto gaped at him. 

“But my ramen!” He cried. Sasuke snorted again and rolled his eyes. 

“Relax dobe, it's gonna be fine. I’m sure they’re just waiting for us there, ” he said. When Naruto still didn’t move, Sasuke tugged on their laced fingers and Naruto jolted. 

“Hm? Oh right. Let’s uh. Let’s go” Naruto said. Sasuke stepped out of the way and gestured forward with his free hand. 

“Then lead the way” he said. 

As Naruto started to pull Sasuke along with him by their intertwined fingers, the reality of what he’d just done started to set in. 

_ They were holding hands. _

_ Naruto was holding his hand. His _ ** _hand. _ **

Naruto started to nervously ramble about nothing in particular as they neared Ichiraku’s but Sasuke couldn’t hear it over the sound of his own heart pounding in his chest. 

_ God it was going to be a long night. _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, you can come yell about this fic or just Narusasu in general to me on my tumblr: PharmercyTechnician


	8. A Long Night Indeed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I wonder what that was all about” Iruka wondered out loud. 
> 
> “Honestly? Who knows with Naruto” Sakura replied, taking another bite of her food. 
> 
> She couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!!! 
> 
> I’m sorry this took so long!! 😩 
> 
> It’s been a rough couple months and I’ve been working like 50-60 hours a week so I haven’t had much time to write tbh.  
(Also, if anyone here also reads my fic Icarus, I’m hella sorry!!! I’m working on the newest chapter now! 😅) 
> 
> I wanted to thank everyone for being so patient with me! On top of not having much time, writings just been really hard for me lately but I’m very slowly regaining my passion! So no promises but hopefully my updates will be faster lol 
> 
> Also, I’d like to give a personal shoutout to Hiddencitrus!! Without them, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get this out as quickly.  
Thankyou for listening to my 3 am Sasunaru rants 😩  
(Also, you should go check out their fic Worse than Tremors https://archiveofourown.org/works/21095921/chapters/50193788 I’m in love! 🥰🥰🥰) 
> 
> Ok so without further ado, please enjoy chapter 8!! Let me know what you think! 👀

Naruto was still holding Sasuke’s hand as they walked into Ichirakus and Sasuke couldn’t help the blush that spread across his face when he realized that Iruka and Sakura were already inside and seated. 

  
  


“Finally!” Sakura exclaimed as Naruto and Sasuke slid into the booth opposite of her and Iruka.  _ If either of them noticed the fact that Sasuke and Naruto were holding hands they didn’t say anything.  _

_ Sasuke couldn’t tell if that was good or bad.  _

“Sorry about that guys!” Naruto rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. Iruka waved it off. 

“It’s fine Naruto we weren’t here long” Iruka accepted Naruto’s apology with a soft smile and Naruto felt relief flood through his veins. 

_ Thank god Iruka wasn’t mad at him.  _

  
  


“But I do have to say that the whole stunt you pulled earlier? Should not, no, it cannot happen again. Are we clear? What you three did was very dangerous and you all could’ve very well have  _ died.”  _ Iruka said sternly and Naruto felt all the color drain from his face. 

_ Nope. He was pretty mad.  _

Naruto found himself at a loss for what to respond with. 

_ What did he say last time? Was this what Iruka said last time?? What does he say now?? _

“To be fair sensei, we only went along with it because Mizuki-Sensei said that if Naruto did it, he’d pass him” Sasuke said quickly, coming to Naruto’s rescue,  _ as always.  _ Naruto and Sakura hastily nodded along. 

Iruka’s eyes instantly softened. 

“Oh. Naruto…” Iruka said quietly and Naruto shrunk back in his seat. 

“I’m sorry Iruka-Sensei. I really thought that if I did it then Mizuki would pass me and then you’d be proud of me” he mumbled looking down at the table.  _ It wasn’t a lie. That’s really how it had originally gone down.  _

“Naruto. I am proud of you. Look how far you’ve come from the kid you were when you started the academy.” Iruka said. Naruto’s eyes lit up at the praise. 

“Wait, Really?” He asked. Iruka nodded and Naruto’s smile grew. 

“Yeah actually I got there a bit early and I watched how you created all those shadow clones and honestly, it was really impressive. So, while you guys were being handed your punishments, I ran back to my office to grab this” Iruka continued and Sasuke could practically  _ feel  _ Naruto vibrating next to him. 

Iruka pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for Naruto to see and for a second, Sasuke was worried that Naruto was gonna  _ explode _ . 

“Is that for me!? Does that mean I pass?” Naruto asked loudly, voice full of excitement. Iruka nodded and held it out to which Naruto snatched it up. 

He started bouncing in his seat as he stared down at the forehead protector in wonder. 

“Sasuke! Sakura! Look!! I passed I passed!! I’m a real ninja now!!!” He cheered waving the forehead protector around in the air, almost smacking Sasuke in the face with it once or twice.

“Congratulations Naruto!!!” Sakura exclaimed excitedly. She went to clap her hands and then made a face when she realized one hand was still bandaged. 

“Hn. Took you long enough.” Sasuke muttered with a slight grin. Naruto laughed and shoved at his shoulder. 

“Thanks Asshole” Naruto said rolling his eyes. 

He tied the headband around his head and grinned. 

“How do I look?!” He asked. 

“Still like a loser” Sasuke remarked and Naruto gasped and covered his mouth. He looked absolutely scandalized. 

“Teme!!” Naruto exclaimed. He shoved at Sasuke’s shoulder again and Sasuke rolled his eyes in response. 

“Hey guys sorry for the wait, what can I get you?” Ayane asked suddenly appearing in front of the table 

Sakura and Iruka rattled off their orders and Sasuke could only blink owlishly when Ayane got to him. 

_ He hadn’t even thought about what to order _

He glanced down at his menu and ordered the first thing he saw, not really caring what it was. Naruto gave him an odd look but he brushed it off because it’s not like he’s really going to  _ eat it.  _

His fingers itched to reach into his bag and pull out the Uchiha file but he knew he couldn’t do that  _ here  _ so he laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them as he tried to think of a way to get out of this dinner so he could go home  _ sooner.  _

He’d take a few bites and then excuse himself to go home.  _ Yup. That’s exactly what he’d do.  _

The wait for their food was a lot longer than Sasuke would’ve liked and he quickly found himself fidgeting, full of nervous energy. 

Sakura and Iruka seemed to be oblivious to Sasuke’s sudden discomfort and continued chatting back and forth,  _ discussing some kind of lesson.  _

_ Hah! Nerds.  _

Naruto was an  _ entirely  _ different story however. It was almost like he sensed Sasuke’s change in attitude before Sasuke did because his voice suddenly got quieter and he’d scooted closer to Sasuke so that their arms were almost touching. 

The warmth radiating off of Naruto’s body comforted Sauske somewhat and he found himself wanting to do nothing more than to curl up next to it and sleep. 

He shook his head quickly to rid himself of the thought. 

_ He needed to go straight home and read over these files, not sleep.  _

Ayane reappeared and set their food on the table and Naruto said a quick Thankyou and wasted no time in tearing into his ramen. Sasuke stared down at his bowl of ramen for a minute or two before he sighed quietly, took a bite then promptly froze. 

It was Miso ramen.  _ Oh. So that’s why Naruto gave him that odd look.  _

When they were genin, Sasuke had always claimed that he didn’t like Miso ramen saying that miso had a bad aftertaste to him, but the real reason was that when he and Naruto had kissed…  _ Naruto had tasted like Miso,  _ and so whenever Sasuke would eat Miso Ramen, all he could think of was the kiss and it made his face get all hot and he wouldn’t be able to look at Naruto. Mainly because of how badly he wanted to do it again.

Sasuke groaned inwardly. 

_ Why him. Why tonight?  _

  
  
  


****

Sasuke was acting weird and Naruto was confused, like really  _ really  _ confused. 

First, he’d ordered  _ Miso ramen _ and Naruto was almost 100% sure that Sasuke had proclaimed his  _ disgust  _ for all things miso about 100 times when they were genin. 

Then, after ordering he’d started fidgeting and Sasuke Uchiha  _ did not fidget _ .

Naruto scooted closer to Sasuke and he  _ seemed  _ to calm down somewhat. 

But now, he was glaring down at his ramen as if it had wronged him somehow and Naruto was completely and utterly  _ lost.  _ As he tipped his bowl back to drink the rest of the broth he wracked his brain for anything that could’ve caused this change in Sasuke’s behavior. 

_ Was it because they held hands??  _

_ Sasuke did offer up his hand but what if Naruto wasn’t supposed to take it?? Did he accidentally make Sasuke uncomfortable? Should he scoot away?? _

Naruto dropped his bowl down onto the table with a clatter and he  _ wished  _ he could slam his own head into the table because he was so  _ stupid!  _

Of course Sasuke was uncomfortable! 

Naruto was so busy scolding himself for making Sasuke uncomfortable that he didn’t notice Sakura was talking to him. 

“im sorry what?” Naruto asked. Sakura huffed. 

“I said you eat like an animal” Sakura replied with a huff. Naruto blinked at her a few times before turning to ask Sasuek for his opinion on the matter, but Sasuke was  _ gone.  _

“Wait, where’d Sasuke go?” Naruto asked, slightly panicked. 

_ God he really needed to stop freaking out every time Sasuke left his sight.  _

“He said he was tired so he was gonna head home?” Sakura replied. She eyed Naruto carefully. 

“How long ago did he leave?!” Naruto asked. He tried to sound nonchalant but failed miserably. 

“Just a few minutes ago” Sakura started but was cut off when Naruto brought his hand down against the table with a bang. 

“Shit!” He cried as he scrambled out of the booth. 

“Thanks for the meal Iruka! See you both tomorrow bye!” He called over his shoulder as he swung the doors open. Then, he disappeared into the night. 

******

“I wonder what that was all about” Iruka wondered out loud. 

“Honestly? Who knows with Naruto” Sakura replied, taking another bite of her food. 

She couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face. 

**** 

Naruto stumbled out of Ichiraku’s and spun around, frantically searching for the Uchiha. 

He thanked god,  _ well Kurama but same thing,  _ for giving him enhanced sight because any other person probably would’ve missed seeing Sasuke’s spiked black hair as he turned a corner at the end of the road. 

Naruto started running, “Sasuke wait!!” He called out. 

He skidded around the corner and slammed directly into something. 

That something turned out to be Sasuke and Naruto jumped up, apologies already flying out his mouth. 

He stuck out a hand to pull Sasuke up to which Sasuke disregarded and hauled himself to his feet on his own. 

Naruto swallowed thickly,  _ so he had made Sasuke uncomfortable. Figures.  _

“What the fuck Naruto? What’re you running and screaming my name?” Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Naruto laughed nervously in response. 

“Uh well… you see… Agh! I came to say I’m sorry!” Naruto clasped his hands in front of his chest and peered up at Sasuke through his lashes. 

Sasuke’s eyebrow seemed to raise even further. 

“Sorry? For what?” Sasuke asked confused. Naruto blinked and drew back. 

“For making you uncomfortable earlier” Naruto said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. His response only seemed to confuse Sasuke further

“What’re you talking about Naruto?” Sasuke asked. Naruto huffed. 

“You know! Earlier with the dragging you to Ichiraku’s when you clearly didn’t wanna go and uhhhh you know” Naruto gestured to Sasuke’s hands, “the hand holding thing” he finished. He kept his eyes trained on his feet.

“Hn. You didn’t make me uncomfortable dobe” Sasuke responded quietly. Naruto’s head shot up in response and he gaped at Sasuke. 

“Wait really?” He asked.

“Yeah. If you had I would’ve let you know. Trust me” Sasuke muttered. He spun on his heel and started to walk away. 

Naruto stood there frozen for a moment, trying to let Sasuke’s words sink in. 

_ Oh thank god Sasuke wasn’t upset with him.  _

_ But if it wasn’t the hand holding then what… _

_ “ _ Wait! Then why were you acting so weird?” Naruto called, jogging to catch up with Sasuke who glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. 

“What do you mean? I wasn’t acting weird.” Sasuke said. 

“Yes you were!” Naruto accused. 

“How so?” Sasuke asked. Naruto sighed. 

_ Sasuke couldn’t be serious could he?  _

Naruto surged forward and skidded to a stop in front of Sasuke, forcing him to stand still and face Naruto. 

Naruto started to count off his fingers. 

“Well for starters you didn’t wanna come with us to eat” Naruto said. Sasuke sighed. 

“Yeah because I’m  _ exhausted _ and Interacting with Sakura is tiring.” Sasuke replied, crossing his arms. 

Naruto glared and held up a second finger, “Okay well we got there you were fidgety as fuck” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, “I wasn’t fidgeting” he replied. Naruto scoffed and put his hands on his hips. 

“Yes you were! You were all over the place Sasuke!” Naruto said. 

“So? Earlier we fought, the adrenaline just hadn’t worn off yet” Sasuke replied, barely resisting the urge to smirk when Naruto exhaled angrily through his nose. 

“Yeah well you ordered  _ Miso Ramen _ ! which if I remember correctly. You fucking  ** _hate_ ** .” Naruto finally cried out, throwing his hands into the air. Sasuke swallowed thickly. 

“Uh, I changed my mind about it?” He said but it came out more like a question. Naruto blinked and crossed his arms. 

“Is that the best excuse you can come up with??” Naruto asked suspiciously. Sasuke grit his teeth. 

_ He seriously didn’t have time for this! _

“Okay fine. I was distracted and just ordered the first thing I saw. But need I remind you that I didn’t even  _ wanna go in the first place?  _ Shit. I just wanted to go home and look over these files” Sasuke snapped. Naruto’s eyes widened and he held up his hands in defense. 

“I’m sorry Sasuke. I just. Ah. Well. I guess I’m just worried your gonna leave again if I let you out of my sight. Haha I know it’s stupid” Naruto laughed and scratched at his scars nervously. Sasuke swallowed hard.

_ Oh.  _

“Uh no. No it’s not. Uh” Sasuke stuttered before finally just closing his mouth. 

He chewed on his lip and shook his head. 

“I’m not going anywhere” he whispered. Naruto shook his head and scrubbed at his eyes. 

“Don’t, don't say that Sasuke. Don’t get my hopes up. It’ll only hurt more when you leave again.” Naruto said quietly. He punctuated his sentence with a sniffle and Sasuke’s chest ached. 

He shuffled awkwardly on his feet. 

“I…” Sasuke  _ wanted  _ to apologize, to tell Naruto that he was sorry for leaving all those years ago but found that he couldn’t. The words got lodged in his throat and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get them  _ out.  _

Naruto seemed to sense Sasuke’s struggle,  _ as he always did  _ because he suddenly shook his head hard and when he met Sasuke’s eyes again, he had his signature smile on his face. 

“Whatever! It’s in the past. What matters is that you’re here now!” Naruto said loudly as he waved his arms around. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto’s sudden mood change, but he felt like he really shouldn’t question it. 

_ Naruto was giving him an out.  _

“Hey! Come home with me! I can make coffee and you can look over those reports!” Naruto said excitedly. 

Sasuke contemplated it. 

One one hand, it’d be nice to not be alone and he’s almost always enjoyed Naruto’s company, but on the other hand… he wasn’t sure if he wanted Naruto to be there to witness his own reaction to what probably lay in the file. 

Honestly,  _ Sasuke would rather die than let Naruto see him cry….. again.  _

“Pleeeeeaaassseee!” Naruto pleaded, Clasping his hands together in front of himself, he threw on his best puppy dog face. 

_ Really, Sasuke never stood a chance.  _

_ “ _ Hn” Sasuke responded to which Naruto was quick to whoop and holler, only to turn bright red when a civilian opened their front door and yelled at him to be quiet. 

Sasuke couldn’t hold back his laughter as the civilian threw his shoe and it hit Naruto directly in the middle of his forehead. 

“Why You!! I’ll have you know that one day!!!” Naruto started his “one day you will respect me” speech, but he never got to finish it, as Sasuke chose that moment to grab the back of Naruto’s orange jacket and flicker them away. 

Once they were clear of the angry sandal wielding civilian, Naruto spun around and scoffed at Sasuke. 

“Teme! What’d you do that for?!” He asked loudly. 

“Keep your voice down. You’re making a scene. We don’t need to wake the whole village dobe” Sasuke replied. 

Naruto crosses his arms. 

“I was not making a scene!” He said, turning his head away so he wasn’t looking at Sasuke. 

Sasuke just rolled his eyes in response and resumed walking, and after a moment, he stopped and turned around. 

“Are you coming dobe?” Sasuke called over his shoulder. Naruto’s eyes shot open and glared as he jogged up to the other. 

“Yes of course I’m coming!” He hisses. Sasuke shrugged, “good. I’d rather not have to break into your apartment” he says as they both fall into step together. 

Naruto scoffs beside him, “as if! Good luck trying! I’ve reinforced it!” He says brightly before an odd look crosses his face and he stops walking. 

“At least I think I’ve already reinforced it. Maybe that doesn’t happen till later. Ugh. I hate not knowing what’s already happened!” He cries, rubbing his face. Sasuke eyes him oddly. 

“Why would you have to reinforce your door?” Sasuke asks. Something about the way naruto had said it seemed odd.  _ Why would he have to reinforce his door?  _

“People kept breaking in and messing things up while I wasn’t home” Naruto laughs nervously and Sasuke feels his stomach twist up. 

“They  ** _What_ ** ?” He asks, rather harshly. Naruto blinks owlishly up at him in response. 

“It’s no big deal Sasuke. Someone just used to break in my apartment while I wasn’t ho-“ he starts but Sasuke cuts him off. 

“Don’t give me that shit Naruto.” Sasuke growled. He balled his hands into fists at his side, “it  _ is  _ a big deal. How many times did this happen?” He asks. Naruto blinks and rubs at his cheek. 

“Uhhh I dunno…” he mumbles. Then he’s counting on his fingers while mumbling. Sasuke’s eye twitches and for a second, his sharingan activates before he shoves it down. 

“If you have to think about it. It’s too damn many” Sasuke snaps. Naruto looks surprised at Sasuke’s sudden outburst but he doesn’t comment on it instead he asks, “why’re you so angry about it? Ir really isn’t a big deal. They really just broke plates and cups and stuff.” 

“The real question is  _ why aren’t you angry?”  _ Sasuke asks. His vision is tinting red again, and he tries to shove down his sharingan but it’s useless so he focuses on looking at the ground. 

_ He doesn’t need another heartbroken naruto burned into his memory forever.  _

“I dunno. I mean. I was. When it first happened yah know? But what could I do? I’m considered the enemy after all” Naruto’s voice gets quieter and quieter until his voice is barely above a whisper. Sasuke’s head snaps up at the word  _ enemy _ . 

“What’s you just say?” He asks and it feels like the world is spinning under his feet. 

_ Naruto can’t really feel that way about himself…. can he?  _ The blond frowns in response and shrugs. 

“You heard Mizuki-Sensei… I’m a monster. The people don’t understand me. And they  _ don’t want to.  _ It’s easier for them to punish me than to try to accept it.” He shrugged again. 

“That’s…. surprisingly mature of you” Sasuke finds himself saying. Naruto laughs at that,  _ a real laugh  _ and it somehow makes Sasuke feel better. 

“Thanks. Iruka told me that a long time ago. It’s why I’m so determined to become hokage. Then the village will  _ have  _ to accept me as I am! Believe it!” Naruto says proudly Before Sasuke gets a chance to reply, the blond has grabbed his arm and is pulling him along. 

“Okay! Now let's go! We can’t keep wasting time!” He says. Sasuke has more to say, more questions to ask about the destruction of Naruto’s apartment but for now he swallows them down and instead contents himself to simply listening as the blond rambles on about this or that. 

_ He will have plenty of time to ask about it later.  _

“Sakura?! What’re you doing here?” Naruto suddenly asks, coming to an abrupt stop. Sasuke lifts his gaze from the blond to the doorstep of the apartment. 

Sakura is standing against the door with a grin on her face. 

“Why I’m here to help of course!” She says. 

Sasuke inhales slowly through his nose. 

_ God it’s gonna be a long night.  _


End file.
